The present invention relates in general to a writing instrument, and more particularly to a mechanical pencil of the kind in which a writing lead can be advanced by the extent to which the lead has been worn due to a writing operation without changing the posture of the writing instrument.
Writing instruments of this type are known to incorporate a spring device or the like which must be actuated to bias a lead guide device towards a writing tip of the instruments. Namely, a writing operation is carried out with the lead guide device being pressed onto a writing surface such as a paper by means of the spring device. Accordingly, it is likely that the lead guide device, generally a tubular member, catching the writing surface to thereby damage the writing material and achieve an undesirable writing operation.